The Only Good Indians
By Stephen Graham Jones
Book 1 of the The Only Good Indians series
A horror book that is jam-packed with action but also quite tender. It's a reminder that violence and terror begets violence and terror, and mistakes or misdeeds can haunt you long after you thought the event was well into your past.
The characters are well rounded and realistic - the banter between old friends, the complicated relationships with imperfect parents, the husband trying to be dutiful to please his wife (by cleaning up the crumbs), the taciturn nature of the awkward, troubled teen. Thoughtful details like these really drew me into the story.
Another thing that stuck out for me was the description of the holes left in the community when someone dies. My impression is that in horror books, the focus is typically on the individual and their death scene and maybe the impact on their family or friends. But Jones also take a wider lens about how the loss of one person or two can leave a whole town reeling, especially a small town. No one is left now to deliver the mail. The school's basketball team can no longer compete. Everyone is impacted one way or another and it weakens the entire community's ability to function. The ripple effect is devastating.
Also, I usually just skip acknowledgements or do a brief skim. In the audio book, the author steps in to read the acknowledgements and that made it feel extra genuine and special. It's really quite moving, so don't gloss over this bit.
Reader beware. The action scenes are intense and the violence is pretty gruesome.
Tags:
amazing narrator indigenous culture violence336 pages
Published Jan 25, 2021 by S&s/Saga Press
Fiction - Indigenous - General
Fiction - Thrillers - Supernatural
Fiction - Horror - General